Environmental expert Green Malunga has asked government not to interfere in the affairs of the Electricity supply Commission of Malawi (Escom) if the problems of power blackouts are to improve in Malawi.
Malunga who served as the Minister of Energy and Mines in the Bingu administration said problems that we have now is because government has much power in the affairs of Escom such that it directs Escom on how power should be used.
“The main problem of blackouts is a result of not giving opportunity to the people who are running Escom to run it as a business,” he said.
“The other problem is political interfere. People who advise the president are not truthful. If you are patriotic you should speak the truth so that those in power should take the right decisions to help Malawians,” he said.
Malunga was sacked as Minister of Energy and Mines by the late President Professor Bingu wa Mutharika when he said Malawians should expect the problems of power outage to continue after looking at the capacity, and the megawatts which Escom produces.
He however said he does not regret for what he said saying that “the truth shall set you free. We need to speak the truth to Malawians so that they should take part in whatever we do.”
Malunga stressed that the problem of electricity will end only if Escom remain dependent and split into two or three companies.
“Our laws needs to change so that other people can come in to generate electricity. We also need to change our mindset and implement things, not just dreaming,” he said.
The problem of electricity largely affects our economy because no country can develop if it has no power. Many factories have stopped producing products because of the same problem instead they are importing, he said.
The former legislator for Chikhwawa north added that without electricity Malawi id in big trouble. He also faulted the education system because it does not teach our children how to generate electricity.
Malunga gave example of countries like Taiwan and Korea that were poor like Malawi but have developed because of technology.
“We should not only rely on the power resources that we have now only but we should look into other areas for instance we have songwe, north Rukuru and Bua rivers just to mention but a few that can produce electricity to add on the power that we have now,” he said.
When quizzed on solar power Malunga said that it is not reliable as it usually works efficiently during day hours.
